A new United States military laser-based anti-drone system led authorities to halt air traffic in and out of El Paso, Texas, after aviation officials raised serious concerns about risks to commercial aircraft.The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) initially announced a 10-day airspace closure on Wednesday but removed the restriction less than eight hours later, a decision reports said stemmed from miscommunication between the Pentagon and aviation regulators.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listOfficials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the FAA acted over concerns that a military counter-drone laser system could pose risks to aircraft, according to the Reuters news agency. The FAA and the military had planned to discuss the issue at a February 20 meeting, but the army moved ahead without final FAA approval, prompting the agency to halt flights in El Paso, sources said.Here is what we know:What happened when El Paso’s airspace was shut down?On February 10, at about 11:30pm (05:30GMT) local time, the FAA stopped all flights to and from El Paso international airport, citing “special security reasons”.The restriction was initially expected to last for 10 days.The order covered an area of about 16km (almost 10 miles) around El Paso, including the nearby community of Santa Teresa, and was originally set to remain in place until the night of February 20.Restrictions applied to all aircraft flying below roughly 5,500 metres (18,000 feet), while planes flying above that altitude were not expected to be affected. Advertisement US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said that the airspace was closed due to …
